What my husband did on his summer vacation

Wyoming 157,
originally uploaded by bookscatsyarn.

Yes, he jumped off the top of a mountain. I think he's hooked!

There's hope for me after all

Brian May earns his doctorate after 30 years.

Anyway.

Our time in Jackson is coming to an end, and I've made two more trips to Knit on Pearl. Now that I don't go to That Pittsburgh LYS That Shall Not Be Named*, I'm thrilled to support a nice, friendly LYS here. I picked up the special Interweave Felt issue, and felt (ha ha) an urge to felt again, after a felting hiatus of 2+ years. So I added Sophie and The French Market Bag to my Ravelry queue and picked up two lovely colors, Spice and Aubergine, of Lamb's Pride. I also bought Scarf Style; as I am highly suggestible, I added Falling Leaves to my queue as well because everyone else is doing it. Apparently I think I am going to knit from a chart. I have never knit from a chart before in my entire life. I don't know what gets into me sometimes.

* I received an email from CarlaK, via the knittiness and PGHKnitters groups on Yahoo. Apparently she has left the shop and is offering private lessons until the new store opens in Friendship this fall. The rates are very reasonable and she offers a huge variety of classes for all skill levels.

I finally get to make Anouk

Anouk! Anouk! I get to make Anouk!

I have been wanting to make this for pretty much forever, and now I get my chance to make this for the beautiful Sophia, who Melissa and Jon are so patiently waiting to bring home from Guatemala.

And whoever does the marketing at Jimmy Beans Wool is once again a genius. You can buy the yarn and the buttons for Anouk as a kit, which makes it a lot easier than bouncing back and forth between browsers, trying to remember how much you need for the size you want to make.

I'm so excited to begin the project. But, um, maybe I better finish some of the other things first.

The problem with yarn shopping on the internets

Could anyone look at the color card for Rowan Handknit Cotton on the Jimmy Beans site and tell me what color is closest to Steeler gold? (Hint: it is not "nectar," as I originally thought.)

Whoops

nevermind

Proof that Mason Dixon is crack

That dang book has made me knit a fancy handtowel. Who knits a handtowel??? Me, apparently, and anyone else who has swallowed the Mason Dixon Kool-Aid. The towel has a seed stitch border with a 14 row repeat inside. For the first set of repeats, I hated this project, and had to do a lot of tinking (but thankfully no ripping back). By the time I started the third set, I got into a groove and thought, okay, I can do this. I don't think I'll make stacks and stacks of them, but it is a nice break from all my other projects, all of which involve mindless circular knitting.

And since there is a picture of the handtowel, you may assume I found my camera cord. Here's a picture of the scenery here in Wyoming.

Hello from Wyoming!

For the month of August, I'm writing from Jackson Hole, where my husband plays in the Grand Teton Music Festival each summer. I'd put off doing any blogging until I uploaded pictures to share, but this morning, I realized I must have forgotten the cord for the digital camera at home. Ooops. I'll have to show my readers (all two of you) pictures of the mountains and moose-sightings when we get home.

This also means I have no knitting pictures. But here's an update, done Amy-style, of my projects.

1. Socks: I was rolling merrily along, comfortable in the knowledge that I have an extra skein in case I run out. I was also feeling smug that after my rough start with knitting on DPNs, I didn't have any ladders in my knitting. Lesson #1: Never feel smug because it will bite you in the ass. I stretched out the sock to see if it would fit around my calf and what did I see? Ladders. In my defense, I didn't have them before; I'm thinking my gauge changed when I started knitting out here.
2. Placket Pullover: I'm ready to do the sleeves and I see the same confusion about attaching the sleeves as I encountered on Tempting. I'm just going to do it my way and see what happens. Also, the idea that this is a four to six hour project is a LIE. Maybe for the newborn size, but definitely not for the toddler size. And finally, this Cotton-Ease, is, uh, growing. I thought the acrylic was supposed to prevent this issue?
3. Speaking of Tempting: nothing to say. It's in the bag, looking at me reproachfully for neglecting it in a recent fit of Startitis.
4. Men's scarf: I'm doing the Men's Cashmere Scarf for my husband for our anniversary. Did I mention our anniversary was two days ago? I'm loving the Panache yarn from KnitPicks, but I cannot get the gauge right: size 11, as called for in the pattern, is too loose. Size 10 is too tight? And guess where my size 10.5 needles are? Yes, they're at home. Oh well.

Happily, there is a LYS here, and a very nice little one it is, tucked under a chichi shoe store in a side-street of "downtown" Jackson. I added to the stash:

• one skein of PURPLE varigated Manos
• three skeins of Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals, which I've never found at home, and
• one skein of Trekking sock yarn

Other things of interest: I picked up the anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting, and it has two wonderful, informative roundtable discussions, one from the "Old Guard" of knitting (Meg Swanson, Alice Starmore, Kaffe Fasset, etc), and one from the "New Guard" (Debbie Stoller, the Yarn Harlot, Vickie Howell, etc). I'm dying for someone else to read it and discuss it.

And finally, HOORAY! I heard through the Ravelry grapevine that Martha Underwood is re-opening her yarn shop in Friendship. Hooray! Her shop is sorely needed, and I'm so excited for it to open.